Trussless roof



March 3, 1942. J. ,F. BLASKI TRUSSLESS ROOF Filed June 28, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l J. KI

TRUSSLESS ROOF Filed June 28, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 3, 1942v I QM Patented Mar. 3, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

My invention relates to sheet metal roof constructions which are arched between opposing side supports. It is an object of my invention to provide an trussless and requires no support, other than the side supports on which it rests, and which is strong, rigid and capable of withstanding heavy loads, such as large snow and wind loads.

'It is another object of my invention to provide an improved roof construction of this type formed by channeled roof members of sheet or plate material which are so arranged that they may be quickly and easily assembled, and to this end it is an object of my invention to provide improved roof members of this type arranged to be fastened together by means of fastening elements, preliminarily, in the course of erection, and arranged when in their erected position to be permanently fixed together as by welding.

A further object of my invention is to provide an improved roof construction of this type com prising a plurality of cooperative roof members which upon being erected in place produce a roof which is substantially water-tight.

It is a further object of my invention to provide an improved method of erecting a roof construction of the type described whereby such erection may be done quickly and with a mini mum of labor. Another object of my invention is to provide a trussless roof composed of arched courses consisting of a plurality of members connected together in end to end relation, in which the members of individual courses are of varying depths between the end of a course and the center line of the roof, with members of a course decreasing in depth toward the end and said center line from a member of maximum depth in a curved portion of acourse.

'In its preferred form, my improved roof construction comprises a plurality of channeled sheet metal roof members which are fixed together in end to end relation in courses extending from one edge of the roof to the opposite edge thereof with the members of each course fixed at their sides to the sides of the members of adjacent courses. In their preferred form the sheet metal roof members are provided with perforated flanges on their sides and ends and the openings in the flanges are so disposed as to be coincident with similar holes in the flanges of adjacent roof members when the members are in their erected positions whereby bolts may be improved roof construction of this type which is passed through the coincident openings to preliminarily fasten adjacent members together.

My roof construction is preferably erected by bolting together in end to end relation a plurality of members to form a portion of a course or roof member assembly and then erecting the assembly in its proper position on a side support for the roof and propping the assembly in such position, forming similarly another portion of the course or assembly of roof members and bolting the two assemblies together and propping up this assembly also to support it as well as the first assembly and continuing similarly until the center of the roof is reached. The portion of the course on the other side of the roof may be built in the same way whereby a course of members extending from one side roof support to the other side support is provided. The members are welded to permanently fix them together and provide water-tight joints therebetween after they are in their erected positions. Other courses of members may be erected in the same way; however, the members of these courses are preferably bolted to the members of adjacent already erected courses in being erected to preliminarily fix the courses together and are afterwards welded to the latter members. Instead of erecting only a single course at a time, if desired, a plurality of adjacent courses may be erected simultaneously, and this may be done in the same manner as a single course is erected, namely, by first fastening the members together into assemblies comprising adjacent portions of adjacent courses and erecting these assemblies in position in end to end relation.

The invention consists in the novel roof constructions, arrangements and devices, to be hereinafter described and claimed for carrying out the above stated objects and such other objects as will appear from the following description of a certain preferred embodiment of my roof construction, the roof construction being illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Fig. 1 is an end elevational view of a roof construction embodying the principles of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a portion of the roof construction;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view on an enlarged scale taken substantially on line 3--3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view, on a further enlarged scale, taken on line 44 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an elevational View of a portion of a Referring now to the drawings, it will be noted that the roof construction is in the form of an arch which extends between and upwardly toward its center from opposite side supports l0 and I2. The roof is formed by a plurality of courses, for example the courses l4, l6, l8 and (see Fig. 2), which extend side by side between the supports Ill and E2. Each of the courses forming the roof construction comprises a plurality of roof members 22.

The roof members 22 are formed from sheet or plate metal, galvanized or otherwise treated to resist rust. Each member is bent along longitudinal lines thereof (see Figs. 4 and 6) into channel-like shape with obliquely extending side portions 24'and vertically extending flanges 26. The flanges 26 are provided with openings 28 therethrough. Angle members 30 are welded or otherwise suitably fastened to the roof members on their ends. The angle members in effect form end flanges on the roof members 22 extending at right angles to the portions 24, and openings 32 are provided in the flange forming portions of the angle members, as shown. It will be understood that the end flanges, if desired, may be integral with the respective roof members and formed simply by bending the roof members, instead of being formed by angle members 36. A pair of bracing rods 34 are provided for each of the roof members. The rods 34 extend between and are suitably fastened at their ends, as by welding, to the flanges 26. The roof members 22 in certain portions of the courses forming the roof construction, for purposes hereinafter described, are provided with angle members 36 (see Figs. 4 and 7) welded or otherwise suitably fastened to the roof members at the junction between their obliquely extending side portions 24.

The roof members 22 are fixed together in endto-end relation to form the courses extending between the side supports [0 and 12, by bolting them together by means of bolts 38 passed through the openings 32 in the members 30 and by welding them together at their joints as at 40 (see Figs. 7 and 8). The members in one course are fixed to the members in an adjacent course by bolting the adjacent members together by means of bolts 42 extending through the openings 28 in the flanges 26 of the adjacent members and by welding the flanges 26 of adjacent members together as at 44 (see Figs. 3 and 4) Each roof member when in position has its end flanges, formed by the members 36, in abutting contact with the similar end flanges of ad- 1 jacent members in the same course and. the openings 32 in the abutting flanges are coincident. Each roof member when in'position also has its side flanges 26 in abutting contact with the similar side flanges of members of adjacent courses and the openings 28 in these abutting flanges are coincident, these coincident openings 32 and 28 receiving the bolts 36 and 42.

As is apparent from the drawings, the members 22 forming the various portions of each course are of various depths, the members 220 to 22h (see Fig. 5) forming the curves in the courses, for example, are of greater depth than are the members 22a and 22b adjacent the side supports i0 and I2 and the members 222' to 22s closer to the center of the roof; in fact, the roof members on each side of the member 22g progressively decrease in depth. The members 220 to 22h, forming the curved portions of the courses are, as is apparent, each arranged with its ends and the angle members 30, disposed thereon, extending at angles greater than right angles with respect to the junction line between the oblique side portions Z l of the individual members in order that these members do form the curved portions of the courses. The angle members 36 are provided along the apices of the roof members 22a to 22k inasmuch as these members, or at least most of them, are under a compressive stress along their lowermost portions as contrasted With the other members 221 to 228 not provided with angle members 36 which are under a compressive stress along their uppermost portions, namely along their flanges 26. The rods 35 are provided for strengthening the roof construction. In one embodiment of my roof construction which has proved satisfactory, the roof members were constructed of plate steel three-sixteenths inch thick, and the roof members were approximately six feet long. The depth of the deepest of the roof members (229) in this embodiment was approximately six feet and the shallowest members (22a and 22s) were approximately two and one-half feet high. My roof construction, as illustrated and described, is one that is strong and rigid and capable of withstanding large snow and wind loads there-.- on. Inasmuch as the members 22 forming the roof construction are welded together, the roof construction is substantially water-tight.

I preferably erect my roof construction by first connecting a plurality of the members 22 adapted to form the edge of the roof, for example the members 22a, 22b, 22c and 22d, together in end-to-end relation to form an assembly, this being accomplished by bolting the members together by bolts 36 passed through the openings 32 in the angle members 36. This assembly of roof members is then erected in its proper position and a prop 46 for supporting the assembly is placed between the member 22d and the floor 48 of the building to be covered by my roof construction. The member 22a is aflixed by any suitable means (not shown) to the roof support l6. Another plurality of members, for example the members 212e, 22f, 22g and 22h, are then interconnected by means of bolts 38. This assembly is then erected in proper position with the openings 32 in the angle member 30 on the free end of the member 226 coincident with the openings 32 in the angle member 36 on the free end of the member 22d, and bolts 38 are then passed through these coincident openings to fasten the twoassemblies of roof members together. A prop 50 is then positioned between the member 22h and the floor 46 for supporting the second assembly as well as helping to support the first assembly. The members22z', 227', 22k, 22! and 22m are then connected together to form the third assembly by, means ofbolts 38 and this assembly is erected and fastened by bolts 38 to the second assembly in the same manner as the second assembly was erected and fastened to the first assembly, a supporting prop 52 being positioned between the member 22m and the floor 48. The members 221, 220, 22p, 22q, 221" and 223 may be made into an assembly and erected in the same way as the members in the second and third assemblies, and a prop (not shown) may be positioned between the member 22s and the fioor 48 if desired. The roof members 22 forming the remainder of the course and extending upwardly from the roof support I2 to the center of the roof may be erected in the same manner as that half of the roof formed by the members 22a to 22s. The members 22 forming a course and now in position are now permanently fixed together by welding them at their joints, as at 40, and the props may be removed. It will be understood that, if desired, the assemblies of roof members may be welded together before erection and that each assembly after it has been bolted to the previously erected assembly and before an assembly has been connected to it may be welded to the previously erected assembly.

Another course of roof members may be erected adjacent but independently of the already erected course of members. Preferably, however, when each assembly of members in the new course, for example the assembly composed of members 22a to 22d is positioned, these members are fastened by means of bolts 42 with the adjacent members in the already erected course, and each assembly of members in the new course may be easily positioned simply by bringing the openings 28 in flanges 26 of the members being erected into coincidence with the openings 28 in flanges 26 of the already erected members. When this new course of members is completed and is welded together at the joints, as at 40, the new course of members is at the same time welded, as at 44, to the first erected course of members. The other courses of roof members may be erected in a similar manner.

If desired, a number of adjacent courses may be erected at the same time, instead of erecting just a single course, at one and the same time. For example, if three courses are to be erected simultaneously three assemblies of members 22a to 22d may be made up, the members of these assemblies being fastened together by means of bolts 42 extending through the openings 28 in their flanges 26. These assemblies are erected as a unit and propped into proper positions in the same manner as a single assembly is erected and propped in position. The other assemblies forming parts of a plurality of courses of the roof are erected and fastened to the already erected assemblies in the same way as are the second, third, and fourth assemblies, as described above, where only a single course is being built. The erection of a plurality of adjacent courses simultaneously has the advantage that the courses are not as likely to fall sidewardly when being erected as is a single course.

I do not intend to limit the invention to the details shown and described except only in so far as the appended claim may be specifically so limited, as it will be obvious that modifications may be made in the roof construction and in the method for making the same without departing from the principles of the invention.

I claim:

A trussless roof comprising in combination a plurality of courses extending from one edge to the opposite edge thereof, each course being arched lengthwise thereof upwardly from its ends toward its center and comprising a curved portion adjacent each of its ends and being formed by a plurality of sheet metal channeled members connected together in end-to-end relation, said members of each course being connected in sideto-side relation with the members of adjacent courses, each of said courses on each side of the center thereof decreasing in depth from one of the members in a curved portion of the course toward the center and end of the course.

JOHN F. BLASKI. 

